“Give him tapes of Mike Ditka or something and say, ‘This is how we want you to play,’” Ryan said. “Recognize you’re a big guy. You need to be a bully out there. When that ball’s thrown up, you’ve got to go catch it. I don’t care where it is.”

Ditka helped turn tight end into more of an offensive threat position during the 1960s, using his speed and strength to amass 427 receptions during a 12-year NFL career, played with the Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys.

Amaro had 106 receptions, 1,352 yards and seven touchdowns in 13 games during his final season at Texas Tech and as a result the Jets used a second-round pick on him and have high expectations. They hope he can start to become a weapon during his rookie season.

“You don’t really want to look into it too much,” Amaro said of the comparison between himself and Ditka. “You want to be your own player. You don’t want to (imitate) anyone else who has played. I want to be the guy who someone decades from now says, ‘That guy plays like Amaro.’”